Chapter 2 - The Message Before Sunrise
The cold morning air hit my face as I loaded the last suitcase into the SUV.
Emily sat quietly in the passenger seat.
Too quietly.
That scared me more than anger.
Lily was asleep in the back, exhausted after crying for hours.
I looked at my phone again.
Unknown number.
One message.
“I saw everything. You need to know what your mother planned.”
My stomach tightened.
I looked back at the house.
The same house where I spent twenty years celebrating Christmas.
The same house where I believed my family loved my wife.
I replied.
“Who is this?”
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Emily noticed.
“What is it?”
I hesitated.
Because after what happened, I didn’t want to hurt her more.
But I also knew something.
Margaret’s reaction wasn’t spontaneous.
It was too controlled.
Too certain.
“She planned this,” I said.
Emily looked away.
“I knew she hated me.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“She wanted something.”
Before I could explain, my phone received another message.
A photo.
My mother.
Vanessa.
And a document spread across the dining table.
Taken hours before Christmas dinner.
They had been preparing something.
The caption was simple.
“Your wife was never the target.”
I stared at the image.
Because behind them was something I recognized.
A folder.
May you like
With my name on it.
📖 Chapter 3 reveals why Daniel’s family prepared a secret folder and what they were really trying to take from him. 👇
